You may have heard that OpenAI released its first piece of hardware this week, a $230 mini keyboard. You may not have heard that in parallel with this “command center for agent operations”, OpenAI also released ChatGPT Basketball.
“This basketball was born out of the Pause. Play. Prompt. campaign, a physical reminder that creativity doesn’t just exist on a screen,” the product listing explains. No other references to “pause, play, prompt” were found. There’s a campaign on OpenAI’s website that I think is OpenAI telling people not to spend all day on Codex.
Who said tech companies don’t care about our mental health?
Basketball costs $70, or about 56 million input tokens for GPT-5. The 100% rubber ball is more weather resistant than the expensive leather balls used on professional basketball courts, making it suitable for outdoor play. Even as the generative AI boom accelerates tech companies’ carbon emissions, it’s nice to know that OpenAI envisions a world where it’s possible to play sports outdoors.
It is difficult to imagine the target customer for ChatGPT Basketball. Who is this for?
As you wander outside the safety of AI-infested, TokenMax-infested Silicon Valley, you might worry about being bullied for bringing ChatGPT basketball onto the court. You can’t pay $70 to walk into a community court in Philadelphia with this ChatGPT basketball. (If it were a free swag from a conference, that might come across as ironic. I cherish my #FACEBOOK tote, airbrushed like a 2000s Bar Mitzvah party favor.)
In defense of ChatGPT Basketball, the AI industry isn’t exactly known for its product-market fit instincts. May the humane AI pin rest in peace.
In addition to its $70 artifact, OpenAI is also selling a series of merchandise with inspirational reminders such as “Good research takes time.” I would argue that this is the perfect outfit for a meeting between investors and startup founders looking for faster growth. Even a $175 quarter zip with the word “research” written in cursive has a certain je ne sais quoi. The product description says, “It features a crisp collar that reminds you of your college days,” but this may alienate people who say “I’m a coding expert and have never gone to college.” (Also, can objects remind you of your days in academia? Should you expect grammatically correct sentences from people writing emails on ChatGPT?)
However, a little company memorabilia never hurts. If OpenAI is going to commission a potter to honor the company’s history through functional tableware, I’d take my hat off to that.
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